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Energy price cap removes risk for one in four businesses
One in four business leaders (24%) believe the Government’s energy bill relief scheme (EBRS) has removed a “serious risk” to their business, according to a poll by the Institute of Directors (IoD). Of the surveyed 500 or so directors whose energy bills made up more than 5% of their costs, 11% stated they have been…
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SMEs owed £23.4bn in late payments
Large businesses owe their small suppliers £23.4 billion in late payments, according to the Government, sparking a review by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Business Secretary Grant Schapps said he would launch the review to scrutinise payment practices and “prevent small firms from being ripped off by larger companies”. The review…
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Economic outlook remains bleak despite rise in GDP
Monthly GDP grew by around 0.5% in October 2022, following 0.6% drop in September, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Despite the recovery in monthly figures, the UK economy nevertheless contracted by 0.3% in the three months to October. The rise in GDP in October follows a 0.6% fall in September, which “was…
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Treasury delays MTD for ITSA until 2026
The Treasury has confirmed that Making Tax Digital for income tax self-assessment (MTD for ITSA) will be delayed a further two years until April 2026. According to First Secretary to the Treasury Victoria Atkins, this phased approach will give businesses more time to prepare and adapt to new ways of working. The minimum reporting level…
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Income tax: what’s changing?
A number of changes are coming to income tax in April 2023 that will affect taxpayers across the UK. Many of these measures were announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt in his Autumn Statement on 17 November 2022. According to Hunt, these decisions will see everyone pay “a bit more tax” from the…
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How to turn a side hustle into your dream job
A side hustle is a piece of work or a job that an individual can get paid for in addition to their main job. From driving for a ride sharing company to tutoring online, copywriting, and more, a side hustle could be any commercially viable endeavour. The practice became as popular as ever in the…
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Tax thresholds frozen in Autumn Statement 2022
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced several measures in this year’s Autumn Statement in an attempt to plug the £55 billion ‘black hole’ in public finances. The statement, delivered to the House of Commons on 17 November, included several tax threshold freezes and cuts in annual allowances. One of the most important changes was the announcement that…
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National Insurance increase reversed
The Government’s reversal of the National Insurance contribution (NICs) increase is now in effect as of 6 November. The majority of working people will begin receiving the 1.25% tax cut in their payslips from November onwards. The rise in NICs was introduced in April as part of the health and social care levy but was…
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HMRC reminds taxpayers to declare SEISS payments
HMRC is reminding taxpayers to declare their self-employed income support scheme (SEISS) payments in their self-assessment return for the 2021/22 tax year. The Government paid SEISS grants to eligible businesses adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with over 2.9 million people claiming at least one SEISS payment in the 2021/22 tax year. The grants are…
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Bank of England raises base interest rate
The Bank of England (BoE) decided to increase the base interest rate from 2.25% to 3% last month in a bid to curb inflation. The 0.75 percentage point rise is the largest hike since 1989 and the eighth consecutive increase since December 2021. Updated projections from the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) indicated that the…
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Self-assessment tax returns
With the new year just around the corner and tax season fast-approaching, now’s a good time to get a head start on your self-assessment tax return. Self-assessment is a system HMRC uses to collect tax on income that wasn’t taxed at source. People who are self-employed, such as sole traders, have to file a self-assessment…
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Retirement planning – what to think about
With the rising costs of living affecting every aspect of almost everyone’s finances, there’s no time like the present to start considering your retirement plans. Unfortunately, the Government has significantly increased the state pension age over a number of years. The state pension age is currently 66 years old for both men and women, but…
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Hunting for growth: Autumn Statement 2022
Introduction “British families make sacrifices every day to live within their means, and so too must their Government, because the United Kingdom will always pay its way.” – Chancellor Jeremy Hunt As Jeremy Hunt took to the dispatch box just 34 days after taking on the role of Chancellor of the Exchequer, all eyes were…
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MTD for VAT penalties begin from November
HMRC has announced that penalties will be issued to those not completing VAT returns through Making Tax Digital (MTD) from 1 November 2022. Anyone who files a VAT return via a non-electric submission will face penalties of up to £400. These changes will apply to VAT customers for accounting periods on or after 1 April…
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Covid loans scheme hit by over £1bn in suspected fraud
The Government is joining forces with lenders and agencies to tackle the high level of bounce-back scheme fraud cases. A new report shows that £1.1 billion worth of loans provided through the Government’s bounce-back loan scheme (BBLS) have been marked as suspected fraud. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) released a document…
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Bank of England predicts the UK to enter recession this year
The Bank of England (BoE) has predicted that the UK will enter a recession before the end of the year. The prediction, backed up by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), follows consecutive rises in interest rates, with inflation reaching a 40-year high of 10.1% in July. Although the BoE expects the economy to contract…
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Chancellor announces biggest tax cuts in 50 years
The additional tax rate has been scrapped completely by the new Chancellor. Kwasi Kwarteng has announced the biggest bundle of tax cuts since 1972 in his first fiscal statement as Chancellor. Income tax, corporation tax and stamp duty make up the majority of the most significant cuts in a bid to promote growth within the…
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Making business savings during a recession
How to make savings during the cost-of-living crisis. Nobody wants one, but a recession in the UK is looming, with the Bank of England (BoE) and British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) predicting the UK will enter one by the end of 2022. The monetary policy committee of the BoE wrote: “The latest rise in gas…
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HMRC updates MTD guidance
MTD non-compliance penalties also published. After much anticipation from accountancy bodies and businesses, HMRC has finally updated its guidance on Making Tax Digital (MTD), filling in several blanks. HMRC updated some of its informational pages on GOV.UK in late August, including fresh information on how to meet the requirements for MTD for income tax self-assessment…
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Straight out the gate: Kwarteng’s not-so-mini Budget
Introduction Last week’s fiscal statement, the ‘mini-Budget’ that the Government insisted wasn’t, in fact, a Budget at all, came at 9:30am on Friday 23 September and brought with it some significant, unexpected and (in some cases) controversial measures. Amid preceding uncertainty about if, when, or whether there’d even be a fiscal statement this month, recently…
